


Origins

by MostFacinorous



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen, Headcanon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-17
Updated: 2012-10-17
Packaged: 2017-11-16 12:54:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/539646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MostFacinorous/pseuds/MostFacinorous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My headcanon-until-proven-wrong, tying up loose ends and explaining the relationship between Matt, Jackson, and Mr. Harris. </p><p>Spoilers through season two, and taking into account Jackson's disappearance for season 3.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Origins

Adrian Harris is Jackson's father, and had to give him up because he was too young, too broke-- still in college, pursuing his career, and his girlfriend—they weren't all that serious, not really. It was an accident, and one that broke them up. He made sure he was there for her, went to the abortion clinic with her, held her when she changed her mind at the last moment.   
But he would have taken Jackson, raised him himself, if he could.   
From the moment that he saw his son, he resolved to be the best father that he possibly could, but he just couldn't. Between school and work, there was no time, not enough money…   
She put him up for adoption without even telling Adrian.  
And it really was for the best. He found out the information of the orphanage, and kept tabs, kept an eye on Jackson… but he couldn't go get him. Not yet.   
And then he was adopted, and of course he was. He was perfect, and so young he wouldn't remember any other family.   
Adrian drank a lot the night that happened, then buckled down.  
He spent all of his time working and going to school and saving up, grooming his lifestyle to raising his now-teenaged son.   
When he graduated, he knew who his son was, but he couldn't do anything about it. He got Jackson's parents' number from the adoption office, and gave Mr. Whittemore a call, but it wasn't well received. He was asked not to try contacting them again.   
At least his son was loved.  
Jackson was happy with his family, was doing well in school, was on the top of every achiever's list, had everything he could ever want, friends, money... so Mr. Harris got a job at the school that Jackson was attending. Just to be near him, just to watch him grow up. It wasn't the same, of course, he knew that... but it was the best he could do.   
The parents had never seen him, would never know him if they did. 

He also opened his home as a foster home. He figured that, even if he couldn't have his son, he'd worked so hard to make it a good place…  
That was when he took in Matt.   
Poor Matt, troubled, but dealing with it. Managing.   
He was proud of him, but neither of them were particularly good at closeness. And Matt treated affection like it was some sort of poison, something that Harris might be using to gain an advantage over him, or make him work for. So he kept a careful distance, trying to let him be comfortable. 

But he couldn't keep the same distance from Jackson at school, going out of his way to be kind to him.   
He knew Matt knew, he could see his jealousy, but he didn't know what to do about it when his every attempt at showing similar affection to Matt was rebuffed, both in private and in public. 

All he could do was try and make everything as easy as possible on both of his sons. Help Jackson with things he had trouble with, go to what parties he could that he knew his son would be at.   
Make sure Matt had the equipment he needed to pursue photography, loan him the car when he needed it…

And it was all going so well, until Matt died.   
Drown. 

After he'd accidentally helped that crazy woman burn an entire family alive, it felt like punishment. 

And then Jackson had been hurt on the field, and it was all he could do not to stop everything, to run to his side—he'd called for an ambulance, and kept his distance. 

Shortly afterwards, Jackson’s parents had mounted a private investigation, trying to figure out why he’d been acting so odd. 

Instead, they found Adrian. 

Jackson was pulled out of school, put in a private school. 

The Sheriff came down on him even harder than before. He'd helped kill a family of eleven, and then he'd spent years stalking a boy that didn't even he was his son. He'd fostered another son, and had somehow managed to let him die. 

He hated the Sheriff. Hated him for putting to words everything that Adrian thought about himself. He took it out on the Sheriff's son, because why not? He had already made a shambles of his life. Why not be a passive aggressive asshole, too?

It was for the best that Jackson had been taken where he couldn't get to him.   
People around him always ended up getting hurt.


End file.
